title: Estimation of urinary concentration of aflatoxin M1 in Chinese pregnant women.
abstract: Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1 ) is a main cause of hepatocarcenogenoma in Chinese population. Measurement of aflatoxin exposure in human may help in providing clear evidence for the exposure of specific environmental pollutants in certain population. "One child policy" in China offered parents more careful to choose safe food during pregnancy, but no reports published on the efficacy of their endeavor. In present study, we aimed to assess the exposure of AFM1 in Chinese pregnant women. The urine samples were collected from 600 volunteers from Zhejiang province, China and the urinary concentration of AFM1 was measured using ELISA kit. AFM1 was detected in 84% of the pregnant women. The geometric mean and 95th percentile concentration of AFM1 in pregnant women were 50.3 ng/L and 633.5 ng/L, respectively. Our results point out that pregnant women especially are at the high risk of exposure to AFM1 . Our results also indicate that although "one child policy" offered parents to pay more attention for the selection of safe food, but detection of AFM1 in urine of pregnant women indicate that more foods containing AFM1 still need to be detected. Highest exposure of AFM1 in pregnant women indicates that awareness campaigns must be started especially in the rural areas of China regarding the possible hazardous effects of AFM1 exposure in pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Inst. of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biochemical Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Univ, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Yajing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Lizheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Muhammad Sajid Hamid
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Akash
authors.forename: Kanwal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Weixing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Shuqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016607:Aflatoxin M1 / Q000652:urine*; D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016607:Aflatoxin M1
keywords: aflatoxin M1; milk products; pregnant women; urine samples